Paul D. Nabity, Ph.D.
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Appointments and Education
I am moving to my new lab at Washington State University. Please visit my website for more information about research and recruitment.
- starting January Assistant Professor of Entomology, Washington State University
- currently USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Arizona
- Ph.D., Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- M.S., Entomology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
- B.S., Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Research Interests
Research Focus
Plants cope with variation in the environment by exhibiting a range of phenotypes. This plasticity allows the plant to, for example, alter its morphology and physiology in response to changes in atmospheric CO2, or respond to insect attack by inducing a defense that might otherwise be too costly to maintain constitutively. In either case, abiotic or biotic factors can induce a phenotype that may become genetically fixed within a population and thereby lead to diversity, adaptation, or speciation. Understanding the evolution and mechanistic regulation of induced phenotypes is a major challenge in biology. I study this concept by combining lab and field-based ecophysiology with genomics across several systems.
Grape-Phylloxera Interactions
To understand the mechanisms driving herbivore-induced plant phenotypes, I currently focus on the grape–phylloxera system where the aphid-like, endoparasitic phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch) usurps developmental control over grapevine host plants (Vitis species). Historically, the grape phylloxera decimated global grape (V. vinifera) production when insects were introduced from the US to Europe in the 1860s, and it still poses a threat to viticulture today. Feeding by this insect induces neoplasic growths (i.e., galls) on its native and cultivated Vitis hosts. Gall formation results in a phenotype that is nutritionally enriched and defensively suppressed in favor of the attacking insect. Phylloxera also alters the morphology of the leaf by inducing the formation of trichomes and, as I discovered during my doctoral research, functional stomata as it co-opts asymmetric cell division pathways in active plant meristems. Stomata regulate carbon assimilation and transpiration in plants and thereby play a pivotal role in host and insect resource use. I am using a comparative genomics approach to understand how and why phenotypic plasticity occurs within the grape-phylloxera interactions.
Collaborations:
Scaptomyza-Arabidopsis Interactions
I collaborate with Whiteman lab members on several aspects of this system to understand what genetic architecture helps an insect survive inside its plant host and how resource trade-offs modulate plant defense responses to endoparasites.
Mistletoe
I also collaborate with the Whiteman Lab to understand how competition between parasites alters resource use in the host and parasite. Here I am revisiting a well studied plant-parasite system where the desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) infests desert trees including mesquite (Prosopis spp.). I am using an ecophysiological approach to characterize how parasites within the same host compete for resources.
Plants cope with variation in the environment by exhibiting a range of phenotypes. This plasticity allows the plant to, for example, alter its morphology and physiology in response to changes in atmospheric CO2, or respond to insect attack by inducing a defense that might otherwise be too costly to maintain constitutively. In either case, abiotic or biotic factors can induce a phenotype that may become genetically fixed within a population and thereby lead to diversity, adaptation, or speciation. Understanding the evolution and mechanistic regulation of induced phenotypes is a major challenge in biology. I study this concept by combining lab and field-based ecophysiology with genomics across several systems.
Grape-Phylloxera Interactions
To understand the mechanisms driving herbivore-induced plant phenotypes, I currently focus on the grape–phylloxera system where the aphid-like, endoparasitic phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch) usurps developmental control over grapevine host plants (Vitis species). Historically, the grape phylloxera decimated global grape (V. vinifera) production when insects were introduced from the US to Europe in the 1860s, and it still poses a threat to viticulture today. Feeding by this insect induces neoplasic growths (i.e., galls) on its native and cultivated Vitis hosts. Gall formation results in a phenotype that is nutritionally enriched and defensively suppressed in favor of the attacking insect. Phylloxera also alters the morphology of the leaf by inducing the formation of trichomes and, as I discovered during my doctoral research, functional stomata as it co-opts asymmetric cell division pathways in active plant meristems. Stomata regulate carbon assimilation and transpiration in plants and thereby play a pivotal role in host and insect resource use. I am using a comparative genomics approach to understand how and why phenotypic plasticity occurs within the grape-phylloxera interactions.
Collaborations:
Scaptomyza-Arabidopsis Interactions
I collaborate with Whiteman lab members on several aspects of this system to understand what genetic architecture helps an insect survive inside its plant host and how resource trade-offs modulate plant defense responses to endoparasites.
Mistletoe
I also collaborate with the Whiteman Lab to understand how competition between parasites alters resource use in the host and parasite. Here I am revisiting a well studied plant-parasite system where the desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) infests desert trees including mesquite (Prosopis spp.). I am using an ecophysiological approach to characterize how parasites within the same host compete for resources.
Selected Publications
Nabity PD, MJ Haus, MR Berenbaum, EH DeLucia. 2013. Leaf-galling insects on grapes reprogram host metabolism and morphology. Proc Natl Acad Sci.
Nabity PD, JA Zavala, EH DeLucia. 2013. Herbivore induction of jasmonic acid and chemical defenses reduces photosynthesis in Nicotiana attenuata. J Exp Bot. 64:685-694
Zavala JA, PD Nabity, EH DeLucia. 2013. An emerging understanding of mechanisms governing insect herbivory under elevated CO2. Annu Rev Entomol 58:79-97
DeLucia EH, PD Nabity, JA Zavala, MR Berenbaum. 2012. Climate change: resetting plant insect interactions. Plant Physiol. 160:1677-1685
Donovan MD, PD Nabity, EH DeLucia. 2012. Salicylic acid mediated reductions in yield in Nicotiana attenuata challenged by aphid herbivory. Arthropod Plant Interactions 7:45-52
Nabity PD, ML Hillstrom, RL Lindroth, EH DeLucia. 2012. Elevated CO2 interacts with herbivory to alter chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf temperature in Betula papyrifera and Populus tremuloides. Oecologia 169:905-913
De Freitas Bueno A, de Freitas Bueno RC, PD Nabity, LG Higley, OA Fernandes. 2009. Photosynthetic response of soybean to two-spotted spider mite (Acari: Tetranychydae) injury. Braz Arch Biol Tech 52:825-834
Zavala JA, CL Casteel, PD Nabity, MR Berenbaum, EH DeLucia. 2009. Role of cysteine proteinase inhibitors in preference of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) for soybean (Glycine max) leaves of different ages and grown under elevated CO2. Oecologia 161:1432-1439
Nabity PD, JA Zavala, EH DeLucia. 2009. Indirect effects of arthropod herbivory on leaf-level photosynthesis. Ann Bot 103:655–663 (Cover photo)
DeLucia EH, CL Casteel, PD Nabity, BF O’Neill. 2008. Insects take a bigger bite out of plants in a warmer, higher carbon dioxide world. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:1781-1782
Curriculum Vitae
Nabity PD, JA Zavala, EH DeLucia. 2013. Herbivore induction of jasmonic acid and chemical defenses reduces photosynthesis in Nicotiana attenuata. J Exp Bot. 64:685-694
Zavala JA, PD Nabity, EH DeLucia. 2013. An emerging understanding of mechanisms governing insect herbivory under elevated CO2. Annu Rev Entomol 58:79-97
DeLucia EH, PD Nabity, JA Zavala, MR Berenbaum. 2012. Climate change: resetting plant insect interactions. Plant Physiol. 160:1677-1685
Donovan MD, PD Nabity, EH DeLucia. 2012. Salicylic acid mediated reductions in yield in Nicotiana attenuata challenged by aphid herbivory. Arthropod Plant Interactions 7:45-52
Nabity PD, ML Hillstrom, RL Lindroth, EH DeLucia. 2012. Elevated CO2 interacts with herbivory to alter chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf temperature in Betula papyrifera and Populus tremuloides. Oecologia 169:905-913
De Freitas Bueno A, de Freitas Bueno RC, PD Nabity, LG Higley, OA Fernandes. 2009. Photosynthetic response of soybean to two-spotted spider mite (Acari: Tetranychydae) injury. Braz Arch Biol Tech 52:825-834
Zavala JA, CL Casteel, PD Nabity, MR Berenbaum, EH DeLucia. 2009. Role of cysteine proteinase inhibitors in preference of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) for soybean (Glycine max) leaves of different ages and grown under elevated CO2. Oecologia 161:1432-1439
Nabity PD, JA Zavala, EH DeLucia. 2009. Indirect effects of arthropod herbivory on leaf-level photosynthesis. Ann Bot 103:655–663 (Cover photo)
DeLucia EH, CL Casteel, PD Nabity, BF O’Neill. 2008. Insects take a bigger bite out of plants in a warmer, higher carbon dioxide world. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:1781-1782
Curriculum Vitae